Sunday, April 04, 2004

Please don't give a gun to the guy who says 'Ol Bessie'

Columnist David Giffels whines about Ohio's new concealed carry law. Basically it states that after registering with your local sheriff, and taking a training course, you can carry a concealed handgun. Giffels has a few complaints:

But in real life, as in theater, the specter of a loaded gun changes everything. It adds tension. It raises questions. It sets the heart to a higher beat and races the mind toward possibilities.

As opposed to before the law, when we all we knew is that law-abiding types could not legally carry guns (except in their hands or open holsters)? David let's us in on what he's really concerned about, and that is the type of person who might register and carry a gun:

You're getting your Monday-morning coffee. A co-worker tells you about his prowess at the shooting range over the weekend. He pats his hip.

'Ol' Bessie did me proud,' he says, pulling back his suit jacket to reveal a pearl-handled revolver.

Beware of hicks with guns, I would assume is the unstated subtext of that quote. Perhaps the coworker got a country accent and grammar just from owning a gun. The very idea!

By next weekend, you could very well be standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, watching the woman in front of you fumble through her purse, seeing her move her derringer aside to reach her checkbook.

As fascinated as I am by the contents of complete strangers purses, I don't see why it's my business what every single person carries on them. But perhaps he's more troubled by who will carry them:

It's no more strange than guns in diaper bags, or in briefcases, or strapped to the leg of your dentist.

I wasn't aware that the dental profession had some kind of anti-gun oath. Maybe we should submit a list of professions, economic classes, and social groups and Mr. Giffels could get back to us with a better awareness of who should and should not have guns. I wouldn't know what to think without this kind of input.